You may or may not be aware that Bishop Joseph Strickland, now formerly the bishop of the Diocese of Tyler, Texas was relieved of his pastoral care and administration of the people of that diocese by Pope Francis effective on Saturday, November 11. While this is sad for Bishop Strickland, who I personally know through our time together in seminary formation at Holy Trinity Seminary in Irving, Texas, I am bothered by some in the media who are characterizing this as a "liberal" pope (Pope Francis) coming down hard on a conservative bishop who has, over a roughly 5 year period been openly critical of some of the words, actions and priorities of Pope Francis.
I think it is helpful and certainly informative to share with you, that Bishop Strickland was appointed Bishop of the Tyler, Texas Diocese by the late Pope Benedict XVI in September of 2012, about 6 months before Pope Francis was elected Supreme Pontiff of the Roman Catholic Church. While I don't know what the rite says when a bishop is ordained for that role in the Church, I suspect he promises respect and obedience ot the Church's teachings and to the Pope who appointed him and his successors. A case can certainly be made that Bishop Strickland was not always true to the first part of that promise (respect) through various public statements he made on social media. Besides this, Pope Francis sent two bishops of the United States in June to the Diocese of Tyer to evaluate Bishops Strickland's governance of his diocese in the almost 11 years since he started being the chief shepherd there. Their conclusions were presented to Pope Francis and one has to believe that that might have been one important reason that he was relieved of his ministry as bishop there.
Pope Francis has certainly shown himself over his 10 year papcy and before as a humble, compassionate and merciful person, and, as such, I believe that he did not make a hasty or vindictive judgement about Bishop Strickland based solely on the bishop's critical words about the pope and those who counsel him at the Vatican and through other places and people. So many, if not most, of the people who are speaking out negatively toward what the pope has done with regard to Bishop Strickland are those who have been critical of the pope for some or all of his papacy and do not (as all of us don't) have the whole story of what all went into the pope's decision. I think it can be said that all of the bishops of the United States who are meeting together in Baltimore in the last few days have various opinions of some of the words and actions of our pope. I trust they are firstly and mostly focused on the pastoral administration of their diocese and striving to dialogue together and with the pope to keep the Church true to its mission that has been passed down through the centuries with Jesus Christ as the Supreme Shepherd and Savior of the world.
Let us all pray for unity in all things that make us blessed to be a part of such a large flock of believers!
I think it is helpful and certainly informative to share with you, that Bishop Strickland was appointed Bishop of the Tyler, Texas Diocese by the late Pope Benedict XVI in September of 2012, about 6 months before Pope Francis was elected Supreme Pontiff of the Roman Catholic Church. While I don't know what the rite says when a bishop is ordained for that role in the Church, I suspect he promises respect and obedience ot the Church's teachings and to the Pope who appointed him and his successors. A case can certainly be made that Bishop Strickland was not always true to the first part of that promise (respect) through various public statements he made on social media. Besides this, Pope Francis sent two bishops of the United States in June to the Diocese of Tyer to evaluate Bishops Strickland's governance of his diocese in the almost 11 years since he started being the chief shepherd there. Their conclusions were presented to Pope Francis and one has to believe that that might have been one important reason that he was relieved of his ministry as bishop there.
Pope Francis has certainly shown himself over his 10 year papcy and before as a humble, compassionate and merciful person, and, as such, I believe that he did not make a hasty or vindictive judgement about Bishop Strickland based solely on the bishop's critical words about the pope and those who counsel him at the Vatican and through other places and people. So many, if not most, of the people who are speaking out negatively toward what the pope has done with regard to Bishop Strickland are those who have been critical of the pope for some or all of his papacy and do not (as all of us don't) have the whole story of what all went into the pope's decision. I think it can be said that all of the bishops of the United States who are meeting together in Baltimore in the last few days have various opinions of some of the words and actions of our pope. I trust they are firstly and mostly focused on the pastoral administration of their diocese and striving to dialogue together and with the pope to keep the Church true to its mission that has been passed down through the centuries with Jesus Christ as the Supreme Shepherd and Savior of the world.
Let us all pray for unity in all things that make us blessed to be a part of such a large flock of believers!